Visual Consulting: Designing and Leading Change

Visualization—in your own imagination, on the wall, and with media—supports any consultant who is learning to design and facilitate transformational change, leadership development, stakeholder involvement processes, and making sense of complex challenges. This book, from leaders in the field, shows you how. Building on Peter Block’s Flawless Consulting, it explains how to visually contract and scope work, gather data, provide feedback, plan interventions, implement, and support on-going sustainability in organizational and community settings. Unlike Block’s work, Visual Consulting addresses the challenging problems of guiding organizational and social change processes that involve multiple levels and types of stakeholders, with interests in both local and global environments. It demonstrates how visualization and design thinking can be used to get more creative and productive results that are “owned” by everyone. The practices described apply to organizational as well as diverse, cross-boundary consulting projects. In this book, you will. . . Learn powerful visual tools for all key stages of the consulting process, including marketing your services Understand the predictable challenges of change and how to successfully guide organizations and communities through them Learn how to collaborate with clients to get sustainable results Find tools for using visualization comprehensively, for both inner and outer work Successfully guide change in both organizations and communities The fourth installment in the Visual Facilitation series, this book teaches you how to activate the full range of visual tools, methods, and models to support stepping into successful, contemporary consulting relationships.

Table of Contents:
Part I. Imagining Visual Consulting Jumping Into the Flow 1. The Potential of Visual Consulting 3 Integrating Methods to get Results Bringing Together the Fields of Visual Facilitation, Dialogue & Change/ Best Practices from the California Roundtable on Water & Food Supply/ Getting Started at UC Merced/ Ways to Begin Developing Skills. 2. What Kind of Consultant Are You? 15 A Collaborative Engagement Framework Types of Change/ Are You an Expert, Pair-of-Hands, or Process Consultant?/ What is Elevation & Subordination?/ Visual Consulting at UC Merced/ Testing Respectful Engagement at the Organization Development Conference/ Traps & m Shadow Sides 3. Capabilities You’ll Need 33 Focus on the Fundamentals The Four Flows of Process—Attention, Energy, Information & Operations/ Use of Self/ Visualization Capabilities Needing Attention/ Practices for Dialogue, Visualization, Change & Use of Self Part II. Visualizing Change Helping Clients Look Ahead 4. Finding & Contracting Clients 53 Succeeding at Initial Meetings Starting a Project at UC Merced/ Using Visuals to Demonstrate Competency/ Mapping the Challenge/ Creating Value Propositions/ Finding Clients/ Initial Client Meetings/ Questions to Ask/ Contracting & Proposals/ Visual Consulting Practices/ Drafting Roadmaps 5. Basic Patterns of Change 73 Navigating Between Old & New Research on Change/ Identifying your Changes/Traditional Rites of Passages/ Liminal Pathways Framework/ Phases of Change–Separation, Liminality, Integration/ Roles–Persons in Transition, Change Agent, Communitas, Community/ Becoming Masters of Change. 6. Seven Challenges of Change 91 Seeing Repeating Patterns Integrating Liminal Pathways and The Grove Model of Change/ The Seven Challenges of Change/ Looking at Visual Models/ Mapping to the Four Flows/ Visualizing Nesting/ The Full Framework. Part III. Visual Consulting Practices Responding to Change Challenges (CC) 7.Activating Awareness 103 Recognizing the Need to Change Assessing Where You Are in Change/ What is Change Management?/ Working Consciously with Metaphors/ Mapping Your Change Challenge/ Inner Process Dynamics of Surprise, Numbness, Hope & Preparedness / Outer Structures—1. Scan for System Needs/ 2. Map Drivers of Change/ 3. Identify Stakeholders/ 4. Interview for Discovery/ 5. Understand & Cultivate Readiness 8. Engaging Leaders of Change 121 The Role of Process Design Teams Facing Uncertainty, Fear & Feelings/ UC Merced Case/ Outer Structures—1. Recruiting a Process Design Team/ 2. Contract with Leaders/ 3.Create a Safe Environment for Exploration/Initiate a Collaboration Backbone, Roadmaps/ 5. Set Patterns & Pace 9. Creating & Sharing Opportunities 141 Designing Approaches, Strategy & Visions Attending to Assumptions, Resistance, Empathizing, Imagining Possibilities/ Dialogic OD Examples/ Design Thinking/ Outer Structures—1. Refine a Case for Change/ 2. Clarify Approach & Theory of Change—Levels of Intervention Systemic Analysis/ 3. Create a Strong Container/ 4. Visualizing Possibilities, Visions, & Scenarios. 10.Stepping Into a New Shared Vision 169 Committing to Real Change Reconnecting with Purpose, Holding Complexity, Crossing the Threshold & Letting Go-Letting Come/ Non-objective Aspects of Visioning/ Outer Structures —1. Generate New Images & UC Merced Visioning/ 2. Make Tough Decisions & The DLR Group/ 3.Invite Explicit Commitment/ 4. Identify Initiatives, & The Cal Poly Case/ 5. Determine Resources. 11.Empowering Visible Action 195 Involving New Leaders Time for a Baton Pass?/ Supporting Emergence/ Learning From New Experience/ Taking Enough Time/ Outer Structures—1. Communicate & Visualize Early Wins & College of Business Administration Case/ 2. Sustain a Clear Rhythm & the RE-AMP Case/ Support New Leaders & Work Groups/ 4. Build Capacity & Large Scale Visioning/ 5. Facilitate Learning Processes. 12.Integrating Systemic Change 211 Take On New Processes & Behavior The Icberg Model of Systems/ Persisting Courageously/ Clearing Old Habits/ Nurturing New Patterns/ Outer Structures—1. Amplify Success/ 2. Clear Blocks/ 3. Redesign Processes & Otis Spunkmeyer ERP/ 4. Incent New Behavior & Evolve New Rituals. 13.Sustaining Long-Term 225 Evolving a New Culture A Culture Model of Change/ Rituals Mark Movement/ Savoring the Gifts of Change/ Living with Impermanence/ Discerning Types of Change/ Outer Structures—1. Evolve the Culture & The Challenge of New Methods/ /Celebrate Completions/ Invest in Renewal/ Maintain & Refine Part IV. Expanding Your Resources Continuing the Journey 14. Towards Mastery 243 Purpose, Practice & Passion Work with Purpose & Intent/ Visual Practice is Growing/ Visual Consulting as a Path to Integrated Practice/ Combining Fields as a Path to Mastery/ Places to Start/Start with Little Things/ Recognizing Crucibles/ Evolving New Cultures in Europe/ The Global Learning & Exchange Network (GLEN) Appendix 253 Arthur M. Young’s Theory of Process 254 Bibliography 255 Index 263

About the Author :
DAVID SIBBET is a world leader in visual facilitation and process leadership. He is the founder and CEO of The Grove Consultants International and is known globally for creating leading-edge process consulting tools for visualization, team performance, strategic visioning, and organizational transformation. GISELA WENDLING, PhD., is vice president of Global Learning at The Grove and codirector of the Global Learning & Exchange Network (GLEN). Her extensive experience in OD, dialogic practice, and learning from indigenous peoples about change is supporting new understanding about the potential of visual consulting.

Review :
"This book is useful, practical, relevant, and well worth reading if you want to ensure no DBPP (death by power point) in your talks or workshops." (Irish Tech News)